Science Fiction Research Association
The Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA), established in 1970, is the oldest professional non-profit organization for the study of science fiction and fantasy literature and film. Its international membership includes students, teachers, professors, librarians, futurologists, readers, authors, booksellers, editors, publishers, archivists, and scholars in a variety of disciplines. Academic affiliation is not a requirement for membership.
Purpose
The SFRA is irrevocably dedicated to educational and beneficial purposes, fostering the common interests of its members in the field of science fiction and fantasy by encouraging new scholarship, furthering excellence in teaching at all levels of instruction, exchanging information among students and scholars throughout the world, improving access to published and unpublished materials, aiding in building library research collections, and promoting the publication of scholarly books and works pertinent to the fields of science fiction and fantasy. SFRA also promotes the advancement of this field of study by providing financial assistance or by conferring appropriate honors upon worthy writers, students, or scholars.
Meetings
The SFRA hosts an annual scholarly conference, which meets in a different location each year. Meetings have been held predominately in the United States in such places as New York, New York (1970), Lawrence, Kansas (1982, 2008), and Las Vegas, Nevada (2005). However, its meetings have been held elsewhere when possible including the cities of St. Anne de Bellevue, Province of Quebec (1992), New Lanark, Scotland (2002), and Guelph, Ontario (2003).
The 2009 SFRA Conference, co-sponsored by Georgia Tech's School of Literature, Communication, and Culture, will meet in Atlanta, Georgia. Its dual themes are, "Engineering the Future," and "Southern-Fried Science Fiction." The Guest of Honor is Michael Bishop, and Guest Authors include: F. Brett Cox, Andy Duncan, Paul Di Filippo, Kathleen Ann Goonan, and Jack McDevitt.
Awards
The SFRA presents the following awards at its annual conference:
- Pilgrim Award - The Pilgrim Award, created in 1970 and named for J. O. Bailey's pioneering book, Pilgrims through Space and Time, honors lifetime contributions to SF and fantasy scholarship.
- Pioneer Award - The Pioneer Award, first given in 1990, recognizes the writer or writers of the best critical essay-length work of the year.
- Clareson Award - The Thomas D. Clareson Award for Distinguished Service, first given in 1996, recognizes an individual for outstanding service activities, which may include promotion of SF teaching and study, editing, reviewing, editorial writing, publishing, organizing meetings, mentoring, and leadership in SF/fantasy organizations.
- Graduate Student Paper Award - The Graduate Student Paper Award, first given in 1999, recognizes the most outstanding scholarly essay read by a graduate student at the SFRA's annual conference.
- Mary Kay Bray Award - The Mary Kay Bray Award, first given in 2002 and established in memory of the late scholar, recognizes the best essay, interview, or extended review to appear in the SFRA Review in a given year.
Publications
SFRA members receive the association’s quarterly publication SFRA Review (ISSN 1068-395X). The contents include extensive book reviews of both nonfiction and fiction, review articles, listings of new and forthcoming books, letters, SFRA internal affairs, calls for papers, works in progress, and an annual index. Individual issues are not for sale; however, starting with issue #256 (Jan-Feb 2002) all issues are published to SFRA's website no less than ten weeks after paper publication.
SFRA book publications include the 1999 Pilgrims & Pioneers: The History and Speeches of the Science Fiction Research Association Award Winners by Hal W. Hall and Daryl F. Mallett with substantial contributions by Fiona Kelleghan, the 1996 Visions of Wonder: The Science Fiction Research Association Reading Anthology edited by David G. Hartwell and Milton T. Wolf, and the 1988 Science Fiction: The Science Fiction Research Association Anthology edited by Patricia S. Warrick, Charles G. Waugh, and Martin H. Greenberg.